Write sentimental/long-winded posts about music you love
- Thread starter LemonMelon
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elevated_u2_fan
Blue Crack Supplier
Methinks its time for some Utah Justice...
where to start. duran duran have been my favourite band since i discovered them in 1996. i use the term discover loosely, as a child of the 80s i definitely knew their music, i just didn't know it was by them. i've said it on the forms before, but i loved the song new moon on monday when i was growing up, i just thought it was by david bowie. (sidenote: this is because of a mix tape. my dad made mix tapes all the freaking time, and the one with that song always was my favourite. he didn't list all the songs or even all the artists, the side that song was on was labelled as michael jackson. i still remember him recording these, he didn't pause the recording to change vinyls, he'd just change them at lightning speed. anyway, turns out he had the single on 7".) i didn't even know it was a dd song for months, as when i bought decade the song wasn't on there. when i got seven and the ragged tiger a couple months later, it all clicked, or cliqued.
during the fourth of july weekend in 1996, vh1 did a huge a-z marathon. of course it was the one time i wouldn't be home! i wanted to tape someone else, so i just guessed when the band would be played and programmed my vcr to record to fill my vhs tape. when i got home i decided to watch the whole thing - my cable company only showed vh1 at night (back when some stations shared channels). i got to duran duran and with each video, i kept going "i know that song! i love that one!" soon after i took a trip to visit my best friend who still lived in florida. while there i thought what the hell, i'll buy their best of. the first record store i went to didn't have decade (their best of at the time) so i took a gamble and bought their debut and rio. i found decade the next day so i bought that too.
those songs were amazing. i remember the firs non-single that i really loved was friends of mine, off the debut. being rather emo at the time it spoke to me. as time went on i finally got the guts to listen to entire albums (for whatever reason i'm really apprehensive about listening to the non-singles of artists i first get into. i guess it's because growing up i heard a lot of crap albums, thanks to my dad having the penchant of buying albums by one hit wonders who, yep, only had that one good song.) i bought all the albums in order because. thought it would make more sense, since i already had the first two.
when i think of my eighth grade, a lot of those memories are triggered by a dd song. part of that is because i jus spent so much time listening to them: i went to school in another town so could't bus it and spent many an hour waiting for a ride, listening to whatever cd i grabbed in my discman. i still don't think they have a single crap album. some are certainly better than others, but every one has some good to it. i practically wore out my copy of big thing that year.
of course, i got into side groups too. arcadia and power station put out great albums (though i didn't get power station's second album until years later which is lacking, i'll admit). john left the group soon after i became a fan so i got his solo stuff too. his first album, feelings are good and other lies, is okay. some of the songwriting is laughable, but the music is okay. just angsty enough for me, thanks to much of it being about his divorce. i still remember the day i found out he'd quit the band. i heard on vh1 he'd announced it at a fan convention, then played a couple of their songs. i can't believe he made it out of there alive.
by this time, i'd bought all their stuff and was eagerly awaiting a new album. getting information was tough back then. we didn't have the internet at our house (we tried but our computer was apparently too old for a modem? wtf? it was a 386, not an apple 1). but my dad's work computer had the internet, so if i was there late or on weekends (my mom also worked there), he said i cold use his computer. i found all sorts of stuff, a mail order memorabilia company, info about where to call for official updates, sites with interviews and lyrics, etc. through all this info i found out they were working on an album, a whole new ballgown, coming out later that year. of course with john leaving the date got pushed back to early 97 (then mid 97...) and the name changed to medazzaland.
in the meantime my mom was nice enough to call around local record stores to see if they knew the release date. most of the time she was met wit confusion as they had no clue who duran duran was. ugh. just three years prior they were huge! when the date was finally for real this time, i couldn't help myself: i got a copy from the local record shop as well as an import from japan. around this time i also got an internet connection at home (happy 14th birthday to me) and saw it was delayed in europe, then never got released at all. i didn't get it, i thought (and still do) that medazzaland was a good album.
i will admit i get bummed out that they're not as big as they used to be (all you need is now should've gone to #1) and i do hate that no one on the forums will really give them a chance, but that's life. at least it makes it so they're almost like my little secret or something.
hopefully this all makes sense, i was writing it on the bus on my ipad. sometimes i type faster than it registers and it skips letters and such.
during the fourth of july weekend in 1996, vh1 did a huge a-z marathon. of course it was the one time i wouldn't be home! i wanted to tape someone else, so i just guessed when the band would be played and programmed my vcr to record to fill my vhs tape. when i got home i decided to watch the whole thing - my cable company only showed vh1 at night (back when some stations shared channels). i got to duran duran and with each video, i kept going "i know that song! i love that one!" soon after i took a trip to visit my best friend who still lived in florida. while there i thought what the hell, i'll buy their best of. the first record store i went to didn't have decade (their best of at the time) so i took a gamble and bought their debut and rio. i found decade the next day so i bought that too.
those songs were amazing. i remember the firs non-single that i really loved was friends of mine, off the debut. being rather emo at the time it spoke to me. as time went on i finally got the guts to listen to entire albums (for whatever reason i'm really apprehensive about listening to the non-singles of artists i first get into. i guess it's because growing up i heard a lot of crap albums, thanks to my dad having the penchant of buying albums by one hit wonders who, yep, only had that one good song.) i bought all the albums in order because. thought it would make more sense, since i already had the first two.
when i think of my eighth grade, a lot of those memories are triggered by a dd song. part of that is because i jus spent so much time listening to them: i went to school in another town so could't bus it and spent many an hour waiting for a ride, listening to whatever cd i grabbed in my discman. i still don't think they have a single crap album. some are certainly better than others, but every one has some good to it. i practically wore out my copy of big thing that year.
of course, i got into side groups too. arcadia and power station put out great albums (though i didn't get power station's second album until years later which is lacking, i'll admit). john left the group soon after i became a fan so i got his solo stuff too. his first album, feelings are good and other lies, is okay. some of the songwriting is laughable, but the music is okay. just angsty enough for me, thanks to much of it being about his divorce. i still remember the day i found out he'd quit the band. i heard on vh1 he'd announced it at a fan convention, then played a couple of their songs. i can't believe he made it out of there alive.
by this time, i'd bought all their stuff and was eagerly awaiting a new album. getting information was tough back then. we didn't have the internet at our house (we tried but our computer was apparently too old for a modem? wtf? it was a 386, not an apple 1). but my dad's work computer had the internet, so if i was there late or on weekends (my mom also worked there), he said i cold use his computer. i found all sorts of stuff, a mail order memorabilia company, info about where to call for official updates, sites with interviews and lyrics, etc. through all this info i found out they were working on an album, a whole new ballgown, coming out later that year. of course with john leaving the date got pushed back to early 97 (then mid 97...) and the name changed to medazzaland.
in the meantime my mom was nice enough to call around local record stores to see if they knew the release date. most of the time she was met wit confusion as they had no clue who duran duran was. ugh. just three years prior they were huge! when the date was finally for real this time, i couldn't help myself: i got a copy from the local record shop as well as an import from japan. around this time i also got an internet connection at home (happy 14th birthday to me) and saw it was delayed in europe, then never got released at all. i didn't get it, i thought (and still do) that medazzaland was a good album.
i will admit i get bummed out that they're not as big as they used to be (all you need is now should've gone to #1) and i do hate that no one on the forums will really give them a chance, but that's life. at least it makes it so they're almost like my little secret or something.
hopefully this all makes sense, i was writing it on the bus on my ipad. sometimes i type faster than it registers and it skips letters and such.
OP
OP
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
I've written a number of lengthy posts about Funeral by The Suburbs in the past, but what's the harm in one more?
After listening to Funeral for like the 150th time, I'm starting to rethink my interpretation of its themes somewhat. I used to consider the record a meditation on death, aging and a loss of innocence; it's easy to take a look at the album title and assume as much, but there's a lot more at stake here than teaching oneself to cope with shitty things that happen, and that's what I adore about the album.
What I'm starting to think is that Funeral is about life's tendency to do whatever it takes to wake you up from complacency, and the importance of that function, however tragic it may be. The natural way of things isn't for a person to accumulate a greater and greater quantity of material possessions as they become more isolated and introverted. No, we are social beings, and life gives us numerous opportunities to engage with others. However, sometimes people don't take them, and they find themselves looking over the casket of someone they once held dear but took for granted, wondering what the hell happened. Death is certainly the catalyst for the renewed life of the characters in the record, and that duality is something I find really powerful.
I don't think Funeral is particularly autobiographical, in the sense that the lyrics contained within reflect the lives of the band members to a T, but you can see a tug and pull between reality and fantasy within the record, and it tends to correlate with the age of the protagonists. Tracks like In The Backseat are written from the perspective of an adolescent, aware of death but not willing to say much more beyond this, because what meaning can you glean from death at that age? The songs written from the perspective of children (Laika, Power Out) are abstract and built using impressionistic imagery, the kind that reflect the mindset of a child that doesn't comprehend everything that's going on around him beyond minute details. There are shadows over the walls, there are parents missing, but why? Thicker, more innately personal topics are dealt with head-on for Wake Up, the most mature track on the record and the moment in which we step back and realize why all of these scenes are being shown to us: the narrator is cold and unaffected now, but in spite of how shitty things went for him throughout his life, he wished he had dealt with things more directly, rather than stuffing them down.
And that's really the whole point of the album: WAKE UP. Feel something. Don't exist in a world where nobody's cold and nobody's warm. Don't be complacent and live in a neighborhood packed with snow; dig a tunnel to the one you love and seize happiness! Don't listen to people who tell you not to cry, people who wind up wishing they could when they really need to. To take the record as merely a series of unfortunate situations is to miss the purpose, to miss the catalyst. Funeral was written in response to death in the band members' families, and it's an aggressive, extroverted one, not a defeatist rumination. There are plenty of records like that, but very few that encourage so much humanity and inspiration in the face of tragedy. That's why Funeral is one of my favorite records of all time.
After listening to Funeral for like the 150th time, I'm starting to rethink my interpretation of its themes somewhat. I used to consider the record a meditation on death, aging and a loss of innocence; it's easy to take a look at the album title and assume as much, but there's a lot more at stake here than teaching oneself to cope with shitty things that happen, and that's what I adore about the album.
What I'm starting to think is that Funeral is about life's tendency to do whatever it takes to wake you up from complacency, and the importance of that function, however tragic it may be. The natural way of things isn't for a person to accumulate a greater and greater quantity of material possessions as they become more isolated and introverted. No, we are social beings, and life gives us numerous opportunities to engage with others. However, sometimes people don't take them, and they find themselves looking over the casket of someone they once held dear but took for granted, wondering what the hell happened. Death is certainly the catalyst for the renewed life of the characters in the record, and that duality is something I find really powerful.
I don't think Funeral is particularly autobiographical, in the sense that the lyrics contained within reflect the lives of the band members to a T, but you can see a tug and pull between reality and fantasy within the record, and it tends to correlate with the age of the protagonists. Tracks like In The Backseat are written from the perspective of an adolescent, aware of death but not willing to say much more beyond this, because what meaning can you glean from death at that age? The songs written from the perspective of children (Laika, Power Out) are abstract and built using impressionistic imagery, the kind that reflect the mindset of a child that doesn't comprehend everything that's going on around him beyond minute details. There are shadows over the walls, there are parents missing, but why? Thicker, more innately personal topics are dealt with head-on for Wake Up, the most mature track on the record and the moment in which we step back and realize why all of these scenes are being shown to us: the narrator is cold and unaffected now, but in spite of how shitty things went for him throughout his life, he wished he had dealt with things more directly, rather than stuffing them down.
And that's really the whole point of the album: WAKE UP. Feel something. Don't exist in a world where nobody's cold and nobody's warm. Don't be complacent and live in a neighborhood packed with snow; dig a tunnel to the one you love and seize happiness! Don't listen to people who tell you not to cry, people who wind up wishing they could when they really need to. To take the record as merely a series of unfortunate situations is to miss the purpose, to miss the catalyst. Funeral was written in response to death in the band members' families, and it's an aggressive, extroverted one, not a defeatist rumination. There are plenty of records like that, but very few that encourage so much humanity and inspiration in the face of tragedy. That's why Funeral is one of my favorite records of all time.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Great post about a great, enduring album, LM. I think that you are spot on about Funeral seeing death as a catalyst out of youthful inertia rather than a concession to it; that theme of finding a reason to grow and celebrate in the wake of tragedy is the predominant motif in Arcade Fire's oeuvre, I think. You see it proclaiming itself loudly in Wake Up, as you say, but also yearning for release in Sprawl II and even percolating subtly in Keep the Car Running.
cobl04
45:33
BVS once mocked me for including In Rainbows in my all-time top ten, in lieu of OK Computer and Kid A. (I later PMed him and discovered he had Let it Be in his top ten, by The Beatles, not The Replacements, in lieu of Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Revolver, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but that's one argument he didn't win 
)
It's not only my favourite Radiohead album, not only my favourite album of the decade, but in my top ten all-time. Please note: I suck at talking about music, which is frustrating. But do read on anyway.
When I read, I always get a picture in my head. When I listen to music, as much as it is pretty much my favourite thing ever, that doesn't really happen. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" - one of my favourite songs ever - is one of the very, very few tracks that does this. It may not be Phil's most innovative drum beat, and the guitar is quite simple too. The lyrics are nothing they haven't really covered before. But everything about the track just coalesces into something else for me. Thom's beguiling vocals. The way the pace just ever so slightly builds as the song comes nearer to the climax. The background harmonies. Whenever this song plays it seems to block out everything else, it just demands my attention. There's the breakdown, which gives way to a depressing place as the song races to a close amid wind chimes, ooohs, drums and lilting guitar.
I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Never has existential questioning sounded so appealing.
That track of course leads into "All I Need", and that's as good a one-two as I've ever heard, on any album, ever. It too has an amazing outro, among crashing drums and piano. "Reckoner", too. Not sure any band ends there songs as well as Radiohead. "15 Step" might be their most divisive opener; it's one of their best too. "Bodysnatchers" rocks and has an incredible bridge - Has the light gone out for you / Because the light's gone out for me.... "Nude" creates a gorgeously depressing atmosphere. House of Cards goes nowhere - but what a journey to nowhere that is. "Videotape" is heart-wrenching, and my favourite Radiohead album closer aside from "Motion Picture Soundtrack". Even the two tracks I don't effuse love for, "Faust Arp" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", add something to the album.
But really, it is just an album that provides with a truly affecting experience every single time that I listen to it. And I've only come across about three or four of those albums in my time.
)It's not only my favourite Radiohead album, not only my favourite album of the decade, but in my top ten all-time. Please note: I suck at talking about music, which is frustrating. But do read on anyway.
When I read, I always get a picture in my head. When I listen to music, as much as it is pretty much my favourite thing ever, that doesn't really happen. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" - one of my favourite songs ever - is one of the very, very few tracks that does this. It may not be Phil's most innovative drum beat, and the guitar is quite simple too. The lyrics are nothing they haven't really covered before. But everything about the track just coalesces into something else for me. Thom's beguiling vocals. The way the pace just ever so slightly builds as the song comes nearer to the climax. The background harmonies. Whenever this song plays it seems to block out everything else, it just demands my attention. There's the breakdown, which gives way to a depressing place as the song races to a close amid wind chimes, ooohs, drums and lilting guitar.
I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
I
I hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Never has existential questioning sounded so appealing.
That track of course leads into "All I Need", and that's as good a one-two as I've ever heard, on any album, ever. It too has an amazing outro, among crashing drums and piano. "Reckoner", too. Not sure any band ends there songs as well as Radiohead. "15 Step" might be their most divisive opener; it's one of their best too. "Bodysnatchers" rocks and has an incredible bridge - Has the light gone out for you / Because the light's gone out for me.... "Nude" creates a gorgeously depressing atmosphere. House of Cards goes nowhere - but what a journey to nowhere that is. "Videotape" is heart-wrenching, and my favourite Radiohead album closer aside from "Motion Picture Soundtrack". Even the two tracks I don't effuse love for, "Faust Arp" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", add something to the album.
But really, it is just an album that provides with a truly affecting experience every single time that I listen to it. And I've only come across about three or four of those albums in my time.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
In Rainbows is their best album, for my money.
intedomine
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
It's bloody good. Reckoner/ House o' Cards back-to-back is pretty exceptional and Weird Fishies never gets old. It's hard to pinpoint why I still find it inferior to OkC. I think it's because I just don't really like 15 Step, and as an album opener, I suppose it's pretty important that I should enjoy it.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Me too. It may be in my all-time top-five. What is really astounding is that it could have been even better - some of those bonus tracks are bloody sublime. I have said it before, but it is worth repeating here: "Nude" is my favorite Radiohead track. The languid pace, gentle instrumentation, and Yorke's stunning falsetto elevate it to something almost perfect. I have often thought that the outro is the sound of dying; if so, death would not be so bad.
joyfulgirl
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2001
- Messages
- 16,690
It took awhile for Weird Fishes to steal my heart, but when it did, it was forever. Agree completely about the Weird Fishes/All I Need one-two.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
cobl04
45:33
It took awhile for Weird Fishes to steal my heart, but when it did, it was forever. Agree completely about the Weird Fishes/All I Need one-two.
I hope you get Fake Plastic Trees x2 one day
OP
OP
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Faust Arp isn't exactly a significant dip in greatness for me. I adore that song.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
We've talked the album to death around here, so I think we're probably all repeating ourselves at this point but I'll say it again:
Every song on In Rainbows is excellent.
Every song on In Rainbows is excellent.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
The only song on Rainbows that I do not love is Jigsaw. Down Is the New Up, Go Slowly, and Up on the Ladder all trump it, in my opinion.
cobl04
45:33
So do I, didn't mean to imply anything.
Same. Yet it's peef's favourite.
Me too.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
Jigsaw is the best song on In Rainbows.
joyfulgirl
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2001
- Messages
- 16,690
I hope you get Fake Plastic Trees x2 one day
I know everyone looks forward to my FPT whine whenever they tour again. Agree, though I still like Jigsaw. It's my least favorite on IR but that just means it's very good instead of excellent.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
This.
djerdap
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2004
- Messages
- 7,603
Without Jigsaw and Bodysnatchers, the album would be too plodding. House of Cards almost made it too slow, but Jigsaw puts it ideally into high gear again.
cobl04
45:33
cobl04
45:33
Been on a Yeezy kick today.
By that I mean I've listened to Watch the Throne and MBDTF.
I still need to listen to College Dropout and Late Registration, neither of which I've heard.
I love Kanye. He can be a douchebag all he fucking wants, long as he keeps pumping out sick music.
This post started because I'm still trying to figure out if I like Watch the Throne or MBDTF better. I still don't know. MBDTF is fucking impressive. In terms of scope and ambition, it's probably one of the best hip-hop albums I've heard. It covers so much ground and a fair bit of thematic ground personally. The production is more varied, and with good speakers it's fucking astounding.
My mate just got a subwoofer put in his car, and I put on Monster. And HOLY FUCK does that song just destroy everything with good bass. Just phenomenal. Jay-Z's verse may suck, but it doesn't really matter. Yeezy and Nicki Minaj more than make up for it, Minaj in particular.
Watch the Throne meanwhile I just really enjoy cover to cover. It's a lot easier to get through, there's no bullshit, extraordinarily self-indulgent wankery (aka the last four or so minutes of Runaway, completely superfluous) and it's more fun. The production is still great, but there's a lot more ground covered in MBDTF. So I guess that's what it comes down to. I think to myself that I lean towards Watch the Throne, but then whenever I listen to individual tracks from MBDTF (listening all the way through now for the first time in ages) or passages (Power-All of the Lights-Monster-So Appalled) it feels so much more impressive.
I like every song on Watch the Throne, some more than others though. Liftoff is one that bothers me. It really feels half-baked, like if they had given it more time it would have been one of the best singles to come out in years. But as it is, the verses from Kanye and Jigga (in particular) are pretty lacklustre and Beyonce - though she doesn't mail it in - has done a lot better. It makes for a good comparison with All of the Lights. I feel like Liftoff has the potential to be nearly as good as that song, but it falls a long way short. Rihanna's chorus on Lights might be my favourite thing she's ever done, though I've always preferred my R&B starlets cameos more than their actual work.
Hell of a Life is savagely underrated. Maybe because it kind of gets lost amongst the Monsters, So Appalleds, Powers, Lights of the world. But it's got a sick beat and some of my favourite lyrics on the album.
How can you say they live their life wrong
When you never fuck with the lights on
No more drugs for me
Pussy and religion is all I need
Runaway (grammatically incorrect, in case none of you had noticed) is ridiculously overrated. The radio/single edit is great. Still a long way from the best song on the album, but a great song. But fuck me, how any of you enjoy the second half of it is beyond me.
Raekwon's verse on Gorgeous is killer. This Rick Ross dude also cops a lot of shit, but his verse on Devil in a New Dress is killer too, particularly the way it comes in with the music after a minute or so of instrumentation.
Truth be told, MBDTF would probably be one of my favourite hip-hop albums ever, if it had been edited more. If Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway (the biggest offender) and Blame Game were shorter, I'd have a lot more love for it.
Bon Iver is just fantastic on Lost in the World, which is a fucking banging closer. Great way to end the album.
How about this section on Power?
They say I was the abomination of Obama's nation
Well that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation
At the end of the day goddamit I'm killin this shit
I know damn well y'all feelin this shit
I don't need your pussy bitch I'm on my own dick
I ain't got a power trip, who you goin home with?
How Ye doin? I'm survivin'
I was drinkin' earlier
Now I'm drivin'
Where the bad bitches at huh?
Where ya hidin'?
I got no problem at all with "listen to me tell you how good my life is" lyrics. That's why I love the lyrics to Otis, Illest Muthafucka Alive, etc. "I'm planking on a million", "Last week I was in my other other Benz". Love it.
I love Kanye's plays on words/tongue twisters.
Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive
I get it custom, you a customer
You ain't accustomed to goin' through customs
You ain't been nowhere huh?
I'm from the murder capital
Where they murder for capital
Inter century anthems based off inner city tantrums
I'm living in the future so the presence is my past
My presence is a present kiss my ass
I never understood planned parenthood
Cos I never met nobody that planned to be a parent in the hood
Great fun to sing. Tons of examples though.
The Joy is a great song too, glad I forked out for the deluxe version. It's got one of my favourite hip-hop lyrics:
This beat deserves Hennessy, a bad bitch and a bag of weed, the holy trinity
The laconic beat mixed with the Curtis Mayfield sample is just brilliant, as is Kanye's vocal delivery. Sounds like he's laying on a hammock on some island, just kicking it.
He's not one of my favourite rappers. Not even close. And though I enjoy Jay-Z a fair bit, he wouldn't be up there either. But I'll be damned if Kanye just doesn't make good fucking music. And that's what it all comes down to for me. Good music is good music. I can forgive/ignore almost everything else.
By that I mean I've listened to Watch the Throne and MBDTF.
I still need to listen to College Dropout and Late Registration, neither of which I've heard.
I love Kanye. He can be a douchebag all he fucking wants, long as he keeps pumping out sick music.
This post started because I'm still trying to figure out if I like Watch the Throne or MBDTF better. I still don't know. MBDTF is fucking impressive. In terms of scope and ambition, it's probably one of the best hip-hop albums I've heard. It covers so much ground and a fair bit of thematic ground personally. The production is more varied, and with good speakers it's fucking astounding.
My mate just got a subwoofer put in his car, and I put on Monster. And HOLY FUCK does that song just destroy everything with good bass. Just phenomenal. Jay-Z's verse may suck, but it doesn't really matter. Yeezy and Nicki Minaj more than make up for it, Minaj in particular.
Watch the Throne meanwhile I just really enjoy cover to cover. It's a lot easier to get through, there's no bullshit, extraordinarily self-indulgent wankery (aka the last four or so minutes of Runaway, completely superfluous) and it's more fun. The production is still great, but there's a lot more ground covered in MBDTF. So I guess that's what it comes down to. I think to myself that I lean towards Watch the Throne, but then whenever I listen to individual tracks from MBDTF (listening all the way through now for the first time in ages) or passages (Power-All of the Lights-Monster-So Appalled) it feels so much more impressive.
I like every song on Watch the Throne, some more than others though. Liftoff is one that bothers me. It really feels half-baked, like if they had given it more time it would have been one of the best singles to come out in years. But as it is, the verses from Kanye and Jigga (in particular) are pretty lacklustre and Beyonce - though she doesn't mail it in - has done a lot better. It makes for a good comparison with All of the Lights. I feel like Liftoff has the potential to be nearly as good as that song, but it falls a long way short. Rihanna's chorus on Lights might be my favourite thing she's ever done, though I've always preferred my R&B starlets cameos more than their actual work.
Hell of a Life is savagely underrated. Maybe because it kind of gets lost amongst the Monsters, So Appalleds, Powers, Lights of the world. But it's got a sick beat and some of my favourite lyrics on the album.
How can you say they live their life wrong
When you never fuck with the lights on
No more drugs for me
Pussy and religion is all I need
Runaway (grammatically incorrect, in case none of you had noticed) is ridiculously overrated. The radio/single edit is great. Still a long way from the best song on the album, but a great song. But fuck me, how any of you enjoy the second half of it is beyond me.
Raekwon's verse on Gorgeous is killer. This Rick Ross dude also cops a lot of shit, but his verse on Devil in a New Dress is killer too, particularly the way it comes in with the music after a minute or so of instrumentation.
Truth be told, MBDTF would probably be one of my favourite hip-hop albums ever, if it had been edited more. If Dark Fantasy, Gorgeous, Devil in a New Dress, Runaway (the biggest offender) and Blame Game were shorter, I'd have a lot more love for it.
Bon Iver is just fantastic on Lost in the World, which is a fucking banging closer. Great way to end the album.
How about this section on Power?
They say I was the abomination of Obama's nation
Well that's a pretty bad way to start the conversation
At the end of the day goddamit I'm killin this shit
I know damn well y'all feelin this shit
I don't need your pussy bitch I'm on my own dick
I ain't got a power trip, who you goin home with?
How Ye doin? I'm survivin'
I was drinkin' earlier
Now I'm drivin'
Where the bad bitches at huh?
Where ya hidin'?
I got no problem at all with "listen to me tell you how good my life is" lyrics. That's why I love the lyrics to Otis, Illest Muthafucka Alive, etc. "I'm planking on a million", "Last week I was in my other other Benz". Love it.
I love Kanye's plays on words/tongue twisters.
Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive
I get it custom, you a customer
You ain't accustomed to goin' through customs
You ain't been nowhere huh?
I'm from the murder capital
Where they murder for capital
Inter century anthems based off inner city tantrums
I'm living in the future so the presence is my past
My presence is a present kiss my ass
I never understood planned parenthood
Cos I never met nobody that planned to be a parent in the hood
Great fun to sing. Tons of examples though.
The Joy is a great song too, glad I forked out for the deluxe version. It's got one of my favourite hip-hop lyrics:
This beat deserves Hennessy, a bad bitch and a bag of weed, the holy trinity
The laconic beat mixed with the Curtis Mayfield sample is just brilliant, as is Kanye's vocal delivery. Sounds like he's laying on a hammock on some island, just kicking it.
He's not one of my favourite rappers. Not even close. And though I enjoy Jay-Z a fair bit, he wouldn't be up there either. But I'll be damned if Kanye just doesn't make good fucking music. And that's what it all comes down to for me. Good music is good music. I can forgive/ignore almost everything else.
OP
OP
LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
Of all the truth in your post, this is the truest:
I don't know what you're doing instead of listening to Kanye and Steely Dan's best albums.
I don't know what you're doing instead of listening to Kanye and Steely Dan's best albums.
cobl04
45:33
Didn't get why you bought up Steely Dan, but Aja is #4 all-time for me.
I'm in a really good mood, have been all day, simply from listening to Kanye.
I'm in a really good mood, have been all day, simply from listening to Kanye.
OP
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LemonMelon
More 5G Than Man
They're the only other act I could think of where you are so egregiously ignoring the rest of their discography.
cobl04
45:33
Ah, yes. And I have Pretzel Logic and Countdown to Ecstasy sitting about a metre away from me right now.
